A New Dawn
by EriePooh
Summary: Bella finds herself in the face of the future always meant for her. Will she be able to move past the pain and heartbreak in order to live the life she is meant for? PB and J
1. Chapter 1

"Ah. Isabella. You're alive" The cryptic blond says to me. Her head cocked slightly in confusion. "Aro will be so happy. Come with us." She says turning. I go to argue but Edward grabs my arm and starts walking along.

The alley Edward was hiding in lead to a staircase. "At the end of the staircase is the secret underground tunnels of Volterra. We are going to the castle." A voice says from behind me. I am tempted to glance at who was talking but Edward grabbed my arm tighter and growled, I heard a slight vampiric mumble, the kind that had I not spent so much time with the Cullen's I wouldn't be any wiser to, and lead me to follow the cloaked people in front of me. We went in three rows of two. Two cloakes, Edward and I, and two cloaks behind me.

We were silent through the tunnels. Following the two in front who expertly lead us through the twists and turns of the dimly lit cave. You could smell and feel the moisture in the air. Every few minutes I felt a drop of water land on my head, guess that explains the hooded capes.

I know I should feel nervous, I am not naive. Carlisle told me who the Volturi were. Their goal was to ensure the vampire world remain a secret from us humans. Here I was, a human, who knew who they were, who knew their secrets, all I could feel was calm.

After about fifteen minutes of walking we get to a iron spiral staircase. The cloaks in front start ascending, we continue to follow. Edward keeping the same pace with the same grip on my arm. It was about halfway up when the slippery stairs got the best of my clumsiness. I felt my foot slip Edward's grip on my arm did not ease up. I felt my shin collide. I yelped in pain. "You need to not be so clumsy" Edward said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you should slow down" I say, tears in my eyes. Confused why he was acting like this. So indifferent. He pulled me up by my arm and started to continue the course. I heard a growl from behind from the unknown cloaks. At the top of the stairs we encounter a red door. There is an ornate brass handle and brass gold door knocker.

The female cloak knocks three times. We wait and another cloak opens the door. This one with his hood down. The piercing red eyes sees our group. "Sister, welcome home" he says before stepping aside we enter the same way we were walking through the tunnel.

"Brother, good to be back" She says back.

The rest of the trip is short. We enter into a waiting room looking area. Like the foyer of a museum. There is a lush red carpet covering natural stone tile. In the middle is a dark wood desk. A young woman sits greeting people who are walking in to tour the old castle. I gasp. "She's human!" I say softly. The female responds "She is, and is hopeful to be turned one day." She says, but chuckles darkly.

We get to another ornate door, this one is the same dark wood as the desk with the same gold ornate designs. We do not knock on these doors, there are two men in red cloaks who nod in our direction before opening the doors. We stop in the middle of the room. The marble floors echo every step we take.

It takes a minute to take the room in. There are high ceilings and tall stained glass windows behind several tall thrones. Sitting there are the three kings. Marcus on the left, he looked detached, withdrawn. Like he was in a permanent state of pain. My heart aches just looking at him. On the right is Caius, he reminds me of Jasper, the same detached soldier look Jasper took. He was looking into the distance. Not at anything in particular, as if lost in a thought. Then in the middle, Aro. With a manic smile he sees us.

"Ah.. Edward!" He rises slowly. "Welcome back. And you, you must be Bella" He says. Walking down the steps to where we are standing. "Jane, Demitri, thank you for bringing them to us." He says. Jane nods her head before removing herself. Demitri follows. They go to stand on the side of the room. Dismissed by their king.

The other two have yet to be unhooded. They stay behind us for the time being. Aro comes to be in front of me. Edward's grip on my arm increases.

"Edward, you are hurting me." I say trying to pull my arm. I hear two growls from behind me and a matching one from Edward.

"Young Edward, calm yourself." Aro says, a mix of whimsy in his authoritative tone. I feel him release me.

"You, must be Isabella" He says turning his attention to me. "We have heard so much about you" He says, a hint of concern in his tone.

"Master Aro, I fear I have only heard a bit about you. It is an honor Your Excellency." I say, curtseying. If I am to make it out of here alive, or with some hope, finally a vampire, I need to treat these men like the Kings they are in this world.

"My dear, while I appreciate your formality, there is no time for that now. We have a situation on our hands." He says, a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"I am aware Sir." I say stiffly. My tone aimed towards the idiot next to us more than Aro. A fact he senses thankfully.

"I am told young lady, that you found out about our world on your own, is this true?" He asks, walking a few paces back and them pacing in front of us.

"It is." I say, knowing not to elaborate further than that.

"Is it true that the Cullen family confirmed this, protected you as their own against a rogue vampire, almost attacked you in their home, and then abandoned you?" He asks, this time looking directly at Edward.

"Mostly Sir." I say. "While those are the facts. There is a lot of generalization there. Yes Edward confirmed this, the family accepted me as one of their own. Yes there was a rogue vampire who threatened my life. Jasper and Alice kept me safe, I left to keep them safe. Jasper killed the vampire, Edward sucked the venom out of me to "protect" me from changing." I glare towards Edward. If he had just let it happen, we wouldn't be in this mess. "Things were okay, Alice threw me a birthday party. I got a paper cut. Everyone reacted, Jasper came charging right when Edward was getting edgy. Edward pushed me into a glass table. The family removed Jasper. It was days later they left. Edward abandoned me in the middle of the woods. I almost died were it not for the wolves." The growls from the cloaked vampires behind me start again.

"So, Jasper attacked you"

"No! Absolutely not!" I yell feeling the need to protect him.

"Bella, you weren't paying attention love." Edward says, attempting to grab my hand.

"No. Edward. You weren't. Aro, Sir, Jasper is an empath. He was in a room full of vampires, one of which I am the singer of, and I started to bleed. Blood lust is an emotion is it not." I say snatching my hand away from Edward.

"That it is." Aro says with a smile on his face.

"Look, I am only here because Alice told me you were going to kill Edward because of me. I am not going to let that be on my conscience." I say.

"This isn't about love?" He asks surprised.

"Love? Yes but not for him. I couldn't do that to his family. I know they did this under his wishes. Not theirs. He and Alice run that family with their gifts. They are scared and way too trusting."

"I see." He says. "This is a very different story than the one you gave Edward. Yours was a little more…. Romeo and Juliette." He says

"Edward confuses love and position Your Grace" one of the voices from behind me says. I hear Edward growl. The response from both the cloaks is to growl louder.

"Gentlemen, please step forward, I imagine you have some thoughts on this situation." The two men step forward, the hoods still drawn too low for me to recognize who they are. They drop the hoods and all I feel is peace and happiness. One of them I do not recognize the other though.

"Jasper?!" I gasp before running to him and hugging him tightly.

"Hello darlin, miss me?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Edward confuses love and position Your Grace" I say, this conversation is not going anywhere, and I am ready to get this moving on. Alice is waiting on the sidelines to come in and help the cause.

"Gentlemen, please step forward, I imagine you have some thoughts on this situation." We step forward, hand in hand and drop our hoods.

"Jasper?!" She gasps and sprints towards us before leaping into a hug.

"Hello darlin, miss me?

"You have no idea!" She whispers softly. I hear Edward growl from where he still stands.

"Brother, please unhand MY girlfriend and explain why you are here?!" he says through gritted teeth.

Before I have a chance to say anything Bella whips around "Last I checked I am NOT YOUR girlfriend. YOU left ME in the middle of the fucking woods!" I can hear her rage rolling off of her.

"That was a mistake, Bella, it was for your protection. HE was trying to kill you, he had been planning it and hoping for it since we met."

"You dare stand here in front of my mates and dishonor one of them!" Peter yells. Stepping forward now. "You learn your place mind reader, we know your secrets, you and the honorable doctor. Watch your tone and sit down before I have my child make you." I see Jane step forward. The same sinister look in her eye.

"Slow the hell down right now!" Bella yells from the middle of all three of us. My beautiful woman, showing her true passion. "One of you needs to start talking NOW" She says making eye contact with me.

Caius speaks first. "Jasper, Peter, you have served us well these past hundred years. Please, feel free to tell the story from the beginning.

1910 – Volterra Italy

"Jasper Whitlock. You and your small army have been an integral part in bringing down and helping stop the war in the South. Today, we put a torch to Maria." Caius sits on his throne, talk of war the only thing that seems to bring some life into the callous man. "That being said, you also were integral in the start of the wars, I understand you were in charge of the recruits?" His tone is accusatory.

"Yes, your grace. Maria targeted me in the middle of the Civil war. She turned me to be one of her newborns. Once she found I had a gift, she kept me to train her new recruits, she feigned that she was in love with me." I said, staring past him.

"And were you in love with her."

"I thought I was. I thought we were going to rule the world."

"What happened?" He asks, he's still authoritative, not realizing the next part of the story is a rather different type of story.

"A batch of recruits came in. Some of which were a couple who were changed together. I trained them. One of them showed great promise. He became my second in command." I said. Remembering when Char and Peter first came to camp. "The minute we made eye contact on the first day, things changed." I say. I reach out behind me where I know he is standing.

"I found my mate your grace." I say as Peter stands next to me. "We were able to keep it hidden, until she was done with him. Said he was…"

"Come on Major, you remember, I was too witchy" His southern twang comes through. I smile to myself remembering his reaction.

"Witchy?" We have captured Marcus' interest now.

"Peter just 'knows stuff' we call it enhanced intuition, nothing specific just the smallest intuitions that are spot on" I say proudly "Saved our skin many a time in the field"

"It was after a battle. Char was killed and Peter he, he kind of lost it. It was 18 months after he had been turned. Maria thought he was no use to us now, his newborn strength had worn off and now he was an emotional liability." Even talking about it brought pain to my chest.

"It's over now my love" Peter says, his hand caressing the base of my head and my neck. I cover his hand with mine and send my love his way.

"When it came time to do so, I couldn't do it. I hadn't admitted the bond yet, neither of us had. We were brought up where the love between two men was wrong. That night though my lord. That night I couldn't kill him. We consummated our bond that night and started plotting then next." I said.

"It's a touching story Major but doesn't cover the fact that you two committed treason." Caius says, slight sympathy dripping in his tone.

"This bond is not completed" Marcus croaks from his seat.

"Finally, something I want to talk about!" Aro, who until now has been disinterested in the situation. "What on earth do you mean?" Aro, has always been one for gossip and knowledge.

"There is a third to the bond. Very rare but it does happen." Marcus has a gift of seeing mating lines. When they are acknowledged, when they are complete, etc.

"What do you mean?" I ask, Peter however, the bastard is looking like he knew this.

"There is one more to make this bond complete. She is not yet born." He says. Not yet born, we are supposed to have more to this bond. I can't explain it but this seems right.

"Oh how exciting!" Aro says clapping. When Caius speaks up Aro sits back. Letting the King of war talk.

"Major, with everything considered. We are willing to pardon you and your army. You all will however, work as our guard and continue to protect the Volturi and the people. We have special assignments for you two." Caius says, done with the talk of love and prefers war.

"Yes Sir."

"Major, we need you to find the Cullen's, they have recently been seen in Chicago. They have added another member to their clan, a mind reader. I need you to see if you can get them with us. Cullen, he… well he lives differently so you may have to adapt to do so."

"Differently?" I ask.

"They only drink the blood of animals." He spits out.

"As for you, Commander, we need you to go to the South and make sure things are staying in line and the mess is handled."

"Yes your grace." We say in unison before leaving the throne room. The walk to our chambers is quiet and somber. After all we have been through, being apart is the one thing we didn't want.

Once the door was closed, I pulled Peter into my arms and crushed my lips to his. His hands weaved into my hair, clutching it like his life depended on it. My hands find his waist pulling him closer to me. I back him to the bed, my tongue battling his for dominance.

"I can't leave you." I say, the pain of the idea of being away from him killing me.

"My love, what choice do we have?" He asks. "Do you trust me?" The ask is something he already knows the answer to.

"Of course I do." I say, bringing his head back up to mine to kiss him. He sits up and clutches my face

"Trust me, I can feel it. We need to do this." He says, kissing me softly at first, slowly his kisses become more urgent. "Please make love to me Major, before they tear us apart." He begs, calling me Major like he knows I love.

"Oh you torturous man." I say as his kisses make their way down my neck and chest. Unbuttoning my shirt as he goes. He flips us over so he is on top, I grasp the sides of his shirt and rip it apart, buttons flying everywhere. My cock growing harder with every kiss.

"Ungh Peter!" I groan as his teeth graze over my nipples.

"Shhh Major." He says with a grin on his face. His hands slowly remove my pants, his hand grips my cock stroking it slowly. "I just love your cock" he says leaning down, I feel his tongue graze from balls to the tip. "You taste so good my love" With that he takes me into his mouth.

The next morning, we present ourselves before the Volturi. Ready to take on our new roles. I am sent back to the states first. Peter is taken to the war room to review the status of everything in the South.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello Everyone! Thank you for sticking with me! I have had… a lot going on and honestly lost my mojo. I have recently fallen in love with this story again and will have more updates asap! Please enjoy**!

Jasper:

"So, you were lying to us and spying. Over a hundred years Jasper!" Edward accuses, having the audacity to question my motives.

"It was never spying. I was given the mission to recruit you to the Volturi. I was traveling here when I was met with Alice. The mission altered from there." I glance at Bella. Who has been quiet and inquisitive this whole time. What I wouldn't give to take Bella and Peter up to our room and have this conversation. It has been a decade since I was able to be with my mate. Private phone conversations are nothing compared to being in his arms. I push my feelings of love and lust towards my mate. The low purr I hear confirms he is feeling the same. His hand is still holding mine.

"Edward, you have little right to have a problem with anything Jasper did. We were acting in the name of our Kings. Undercover." Alice says

"You knew about this?" Edward asks, finally the feeling of nervousness begins to roll off of him. The boy knows we know too much. They may never have trusted me fully but Alice, they trusted her too much.

"Of course Dear brother. Jasper needed to come to the Cullens with me for two reasons. The first was the mission we were sent on. The second was to find the final link to his mating bond. We just needed time, patience, and your trust." Alice says.

"You see, the pull of a mating bond can be strong. It can make your powers even stronger if you are lucky to have one. Once the decision was made to send Jasper to the States, I had one of the strongest visions I have ever had. I witnessed Jasper and his mates together, here, and the Cullens begging on their knees for forgiveness from treason." Alice states.

"She found me hunting, introduced herself, and told me the story. Of course I didn;t believe her at all at first.. Until she mentioned having me feel her feelings about the truth. We called Aro, who immediately called us back to the castle. He read her mind and saw the vision himself and sent us back to find you all. Where we started our journey."

"We were sure about the end results and where we all would stand at the fall out, the only thing we weren't sure on is the why and if we could prevent it."

"Were you able to?" Bella asked, speaking for the first time since the story started.

"No, we were not." Alice says firmly. "Their fate was decided the day Carlisle met with Laurent."

"So that explains the first reason, the second, the mating bond…. Did you fulfill that part?" Bella asks. I can feel the curiosity and nervousness pouring off of her.

"We did little one." Peter says, I can only imagine how he feels. Neither of us had this easy. He was forced to know I found our girl and never know her until the time was right, and me, having to watch her fall for, and have her heart crushed by that scum.

She looks up at him at that moment, I can see the tears in her eyes as they look at each other. I feel happiness roll off of me seeing the two people I love realize who each other is for the first time.

"Liars!" Edward screams, charging for us. Peter and I immediately push Bella behind us and fall in line. Peter knows better than to get in front of me. I snarl at Edward however, Jane, wonderful Jane, attacks from her post and Edward falls in pain at our feet.

Peter and I are still growling and snarling. I can feel my rage trying to seep out and attack. It is at that moment Marcus stands. "Jane, let the boy go." He says calmly. "Alec, please escort Mr Cullen to his rooms, stand guard. Alice, dear, please get the rest of the Cullens here, we have a lot to discuss in regards to the list of laws they have broken." Its when he looks at us that I finally calm down. "Gentlemen, please escort Ms. Swan to her suite, I am sure there is a lot to discuss." With that he sits down slowly. Everyone immediately jumps into action.

Bella:

The walk to my "Suite" as Marcus called it is long. Thankfully it gives me a minute to put my thoughts together. So many things were just admitted in that throne room. The Cullens? Criminals? Alice and Jasper aren't together but he is gay? Bi? Whos the third person? Why do I feel so confused about how I feel towards him? And the biggest…. Why did he leave me too…. When we get into the room the men let me enter first and then file in behind me.

The room is HUGE the king size bed covered in burgundy bedding is beautiful and everything I would want to ever have! There is a perfect chair in the corner with a lamp over it and books upon books lined on the wall. "Holy fuck!" I say.

"Bella.." Jasper starts to talk and it snaps me out of my awe and I turn quickly.

"No. My turn to talk, you sit and answer." I say, suddenly anger taking over the confusion I had been feeling. Jasper sits down, Peter follows.

"First, Peter, its lovely to meet you." I say, unfortunately my blush shows up as i take in all that is this wild looking cowboy. Calm down Bella. Focus.

"You too darlin'" He says, the same southern twang coming through. I nod and turn myself to Jasper.

"How could you?" I ask, trying to hide how utterly betrayed I was feeling however I know better than my ability to hide from Jasper. "You just… you left. You LET him leave me to die in the fucking woods." I guess I was more upset than I thought.

"Bella… I…"

"NO! You were my friend Jasper. You were my family! And you all LEFT like I was nothing to you!"

"Don't you dare think that Isabella. You are everything to me, I was miserable when I left but I had to. It almost killed me to leave." I look at his face and see him clenching his fists in his hands. Peter was on his knees in front of him trying to get him to look at him.

"Then why…? Why did you leave" I say.

"When your party happened that was the last straw. Edward hurt you. He almost killed you. I needed to get him out of there and put an end to this whole charade. I knew you would be safe. I made a deal with the wolves to protect you while I got the case against the Cullens together. This was the plan the whole time. It was the ONLY way to get Edward in for questioning." He said. Still looking at his hands.

"Jasper. No more lies. I am sick of the lies and the cover story. I need the truth. I think I deserve at least that."

"Youre right. You do. Ask me anything and I will tell you."

"Okay…. What are the Cullens guilty of?"

"Edward, Esme, and Carlisle are the only guilty parties. Rosalie and Emmett are innocent. Carlisle and the Denali's have been plotting to go against the Volturi and over thrown them They want to convert all Vampires to their diet and bring us in the open. They have a vision of total integration with humans. Edward is guilty of telling a human of our kind and crimes against the wolves." I feel the air leave my body. Treason? Carlisle and Esme?

"You say you asked the wolves to protect me and Edward is guilty in vampire laws of crimes against them? Are they part of the Volturi?"

"They haven't always been, once things in the south were cleared up, Peter was able to come up to Washington to help destroy Victoria behind the scenes and ensure her plot didn't happen. If it had, Carlisle would have succeeded against the Volturi and brought an end to the human race." Jasper says.

"Who is your third mate?" I ask quietly.

"You are Isabella." Is all he says.


	4. Chapter 4

Jasper

"Me?" She whispers to herself. The feeling of confusion, anger, understanding, and hurt come rolling off her. The one I wasn't expecting to feel was denial. It took over her quickly like a knife to my chest. "But... you let me be with Edward. You let me fall in love with him. You let him manipulate me for a year." She says.

"We had to. There was no other way. By the time I had realized who you were. Edward had found you first and his obsession with you evolved." I say, trying to get her to understand. "It killed me to do that, to let someone else touch OUR mate. But the alternative was much worse."

"You said once that you felt safest with me and you didn't understand why they tried to keep me away. That is why, Alice knew about who you were to us and every time I saw you with him or every time we were alone I almost told you. But the second I decided to. Alice would have a vision. One of Edward attacking you. He was so obsessed with your blood Bella and he confused it for possession of you."

"What were Alice's visions?" She asked. The anger still rolling off of her but the denial ebbing away.

"Edward going into a full rage and attacking you. Once it was him draining you completely faster than I could get to you. One was attacking you and injuring you so deep before I got him off that I couldn't save you. I would risk a lot of things for you two, but never your lives. Please Bella, you have to understand. I could not admit all of this knowing the end resulted in a situation no one could live with." I say, feeling a knot in my chest.

"Bella, this was the way we needed to do this. Jasper consulted with me about all of it before we made the decision to hide it. My instincts screamed that we needed to wait, and those are never wrong little one." Peter adds in grasping my hand in my lap. I look down at my hands, intertwined with his.

This wasn't how this was supposed to go. None of this is right. We were all supposed to be happy and fall into each other's arms. We have all been through too much to get to where we are.

Bella is silent for a while. Her emotions changing quickly from anger to sadness, to compassion, to anger again. It was a good five minutes before Bella spoke again. "I believe you. Many things in our story make sense that leads to this. I understand why you did it the way you did. But there is so much hurt involved in all of this for me to be able to fully just forgive and forget. Still so much about ALL of this and my involvement I don't understand." She says, being the strong woman, I know her to be. The Bella with out Edwards manipulations.

"We understand Bella. We will leave you for tonight. May we come see you in the morning?" Peter asks.

"I would like that." She says smiling. It's a step, progress. I think.

"Can I hug you Bella?" I ask, quietly. Feeling heartbroken about how this all played out. I wish I had Peters hope for our future, the deep seated knowing that this would work out. Right now, it feels too far off for that to happen.

"Come here…." She replies, holding her arms out. I go and wrap my arms around her waist, burying my head in her neck. I feel her peace as she hugs me back. After a similar hug from Peter we take our leave. It kills me to walk out of that room with so much still unresolved.

"Come here Major." Peter says to me when we get to our chambers. I burry my face in his chest. His soothing fingers run down my back and through my hair. If I were human, I would be crying.

"It wasn't supposed to go this way Peter. We were all supposed to be happy and elated. Not angry and hurt. There is too much negativity surrounding this now." I say pulling away.

"Babe, you have to trust me, and Alice. We will get her. It is just going to take time. You have been telling me that our girl in there feels emotions deeply and personally. You know her better than me. She is going to need time to come around." He says, I can feel the disappointment rolling off him as he comforts me.

"You're right." I say stepping away. We were still in our robes from the court meeting. I throw mine off, revealing a charcoal grey button up shirt and jeans. Peter, follows suit, wearing a burgundy t shirt and a flannel over it with loose sitting wrangler jeans. The flannel rolled up to his elbows. The slight V showing off the little bit of chest hair at the top of his chest.

"You truly are the most beautiful man I have ever seen." I say to him. "I love you so much Peter." I say walking back over to him. I wrap my fingers through the short military hair cut he still chose to wear and pull him in. Kissing him with a force that surprised even me. He quickly responds in a similar fashion. Kissing me back while pulling my longer golden locks.

"Promise me, we will never be apart this long again." I say as we take each other's clothes off and climb into bed.

"Major, I can promise you carnage before I ever separate from you again. Now come here. I want to hold you until the sun comes up."

Bella:

After hugging both of my…. mates… they leave. Softly closing the door behind them. As soon as I hear the click, I fall to the bed and cry. Not like a sad whoa as me cry, a deep overwhelmed cry. Where there are too many emotions coursing through you the only way to get them out is to sob uncontrolled for five minutes.

Jasper is my mate? And not just Jasper, but Peter. The idea should seem absurd to me but it's the first things since I met the Cullen family that makes sense. I don't blame them for not telling me sooner. If Alice was having visions of my death every time the truth was out, then I get it. I would do the same for either of them. A realization that is emotionally jarring in my current state.

"Calm down Bella." I whisper to myself. I sit criss cross on the giant bed in my room. I close my eyes and take deep breaths. Centering my emotions. This was a trick I learned after they left to calm my emotions and function.

Knock knock. "Hey Bella… can I come in" I hear Alice's voice on the other side of the mahogany door.

"Yeah." I say with another deep breath. She opens the door, coming in with a tray of food.

"I thought you could use this." She says. "And maybe some company." She says, setting the gold plated tray in front of me. I stare down at the pile of fruit and cheese and tea. "I brought you just a little bit, I can have the cook make more but I figured with everything you might not be too hungry."

"Thanks Alice, its perfect." I say, picking up an apple slice from the tray.

"How are you doing?" She asks nervously.

"Um, I am honestly not sure. A lot came out today." I say " I am still processing."

"I understand. Just know, Jasper and I were just trying to protect you the whole time. We had our case and you on our minds in every decision we had." She says.

"I know, he told me." I say, sipping my tea.

"Please don't push him away. He has been through so much. He deserves the happiness the fates have planned for him." She says.

"Alice, what am I supposed to do? I know his intentions were good in all of this but the fall out of those led me to be almost killed, manipulated, and abandoned. Those feelings don't just go away." I say. "I was alone for months, thinking all of you just didn't care. The three people that hurt the most were you, Jasper, and Emmett. Not even a word Alice. You just, left. Regardless of the reasoning now, the pain I felt then was real. I felt empty. I would have dreams that woke me and Charlie up with my screaming. I would sit, empty, for days just catatonic. Edward led me into the woods, dumped me, and left me there. I almost died until Sam came and found me. There is more human emotion to your decisions than you guys realize. It may be rationalized but fuck Alice, I still went through all of that." I say, tears trying to seep out again.

"You're right, they don't. Just, promise me that you will give them a chance?" Alice says.

"In your visions, do you see me forgiving you all?"

"Yes, I just don't know when." I nod. I can't say what it will take to get through this. The result is one that all of us want, I just need time and more answers. From more than just them.

"Where is Edward right now?"

"He is locked in a chamber on the other side of the castle, under guard. "She says. My first stop tomorrow is to confront him. "Oh, Bella…. You can't." Alice says, as the realization dawns on her.

"I have to. I need closure." I say. Alice sits for a few more minutes, after sensing I am not in a "catching up" mood, she gives me a hug.

"I can't stop you but, be careful. There are clothes in here for you. The boys designed and filled this room for you." She says before leaving.

In the closet I find a dresser full of comfortable large tank tops and shorts. Grabbing a set I go and fall into a very uneasy but deep sleep.

In the morning, I was going to confront Edward.


	5. Chapter 5

Peter:

"Room service!" I announce as Jasper and I knock on the door to Bella's room. It was about seven in the morning, we heard the shower from Bella's room start abut an hour ago so we snuck to the kitchen to get her some breakfast.

Luckily, Jasper already knew what she preferred. It killed me how much better he knew her, that he got to get to know her. Know that she loved coffee with a lot of creamer. Her favorite quick breakfast was over medium eggs and a sour dough English muffin. I didn't want to be jealous… but there was a part of me that couldn't help it.

Bella opens the door wide, a small smile on her face. The dark circles under her eyes show she didn't sleep very well. "Gentlemen." She says, stepping to the side. Her mood seems improved since last night, maybe she was able to process better.

"Good Morning Darlin'" Jasper says. "We brought you breakfast." He says. I present her with the tray

"Oh! My favorite! I hope they got the eggs right…." She says. Jasper warned me she would be picky.

"Don't worry Sugar, Jasper made them himself to make sure they were perfect." I say. Handing her the plate.

"Oh no…." She says. "You let Jasper cook…?" She says, looking at the eggs in fear.

"I mean, he is the only one of us who knows how, or knows what you like between the two of us." I say.

"The first time he made me eggs, it was a disaster. Shells and no salt and oof." She says, shuddering. I chuckle, sounds like my mate.

"Well next time I assure you, I will do the cooking, you just may have to teach me." I say.

"I would like that very much." She says with a blush. We fall into silence as she lifts the cup of coffee. She brings it to her nose first and takes a long sniff.

"Thank god for coffee" She says, a smile on her face.

"How did you sleep Sugar?" I ask, suspecting it was poorly.

"Oh you know, the usual. Pretty good but with a few nightmares. Its been that way since…" She trails off, looking at Jasper.

"Since we all left." He says. I know he still feels guilty. We both do. There was so much more at stake than this for us to resolve. Her life being the most important. There is also the potential risings over the last hundred years. Different leaders from the Newborn Army trying to start the movement again. We had to put a stop to them. One day, she will understand.

"Speaking of…" She starts, putting her cup down and folding her hands in her lap. "I need to see Edward." She says.

"Absolutely not!" Jasper and I both say in unison. She needs to see the loose cannon mind reader?!

"Hear me out. One, I am going to talk to him so you can get on board now or we can fight about it and I can start yelling. Two, I need answers. You are my mates. Which means he isn't, like he claimed he was. I need to know if he knew that and was lying to me too, why he left, if he felt anything. I know you don't want to hear it but, what I felt for him, while juvenile was real." She says. Jasper and I both know it was real for her. I remember the first time he realized she was in love with him. It killed both of us, him more than me. He had to feel our mate falling in love with someone else.

"I know it was." Jasper says through gritted teeth. "I also know what he felt. Bella please. He is dangerous, he was a loose cannon already before all of this came out, who knows what he will be like now." He says, proving a good point.

"Alice knows. Look, I respect you both so much but I am not asking. I need to do this. I need closure. You can both be there the whole time. I wouldn't want to do this without you if I'm being completely honest with myself.

"Fine."

Bella:

"Thank you so much." I say, holding back from hugging them. I had slept like shit. There was a revolving round of nightmares. Edward killing me, Edward killing them, I woke up in panic so many times. My mind was in turmoil.

I look down at the food in front of me, feeling super appreciative of them making me food and or Jasper remembering my favorite breakfast.

"Can I, could I ask you guys some questions?" My anger towards them had dissipated shortly after Alice had left my room. The hurt was still there but the understanding was coming forward.

"Anything you wish" Peter says.

"Why did you stay away?" She asks in a small voice. "Jasper was there, but you weren't"

"I wanted to be, it kills me that I wasn't. Part of our sentence was that we had to serve the Volturi. I had to finish the mission and if I came back, it would have blown our cover" I say, once it is out loud it sounds so completely stupid.

"After Maria was killed, many of her followers tried to bring the cause back and there were many uprisings. I became an enemy to them. When Jasper and I finally got together, we told no one. Until yesterday, no one but the Kings and us knew of the bond we share. If anyone had, and worse, if they had found out about you, our human mate, you would all be in danger." He says. "Anything we did, while I know it hurt, it was to protect you." He says. "Both of you."

"Bella I know you are hurt by all of this but, you have to know, it wasn't because we thought you couldn't handle it or because we didn't want to tell you. Being away from both of you. Sitting on the side lines and having to get to know you through Jasper when we could call each other. That was hell itself." Peter says. For the first time I can see the pain, on both of their faces. I have been looking at this all wrong, the whole time. I never stopped to think what they had gone through.

"I believe you, both of you." I say, grabbing their hands. "In time, I want to hear it all. Promise me though, no more secrets. No more lies." I say. They both nods.

"She sounds like you do." Jasper says to Peter. We were sitting in a triangle on the bed. Peter reaches over and cups the side of Jasper's face.

"Well, maybe its because you are the dumb one of us all." Peter says back. I feel my heart swell with love looking at these two. A lot still didn't make sense to me, but the anger I felt towards them was subsiding, I think the anger was more based on the hurt of all of this. It is hard to be angry when you can see their reasons for things. 

"He has a point there." I reply. I finish my breakfast quickly. The eggs were cooked perfectly, Jasper has definitely learned a thing or two. I could see on Jasper's face that he was tracking my emotions through all of this.

"Thank you for breakfast guys. Do you think we could go talk to him now… I am itching to get this moving."

"Of course. Let's go." I slip on some slippers and they lead me through the long velvet hallways of the castle. Last night I was so rushed to talk to them I didn't take time to notice the intricate designs in the dark wood on the walls. The burgundy carpet was speckled with gold that shined in certain lights.

We finally get to the door to Edwards room. There is one guard standing outside. "Jane, we're here to see him." She nods before stepping aside. I feel my heart spike. The dreams I had last night coming to my mind.

"I need to know…." I whisper to myself before turning the door into the room.

He was just.. sitting there. Staring out the window.

"Edward." I say, entering the room. He turns slowly. His black eyes meeting mine, his mouth morphing into a sneer.

"Bella, I knew you would come."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Thank you for your patience. I have written and rewritten this chapter so many times. It is a bit rough but we should be able to get this moving along now.**

**Enjoy!**

In the months since the family left, I grieved for each of them. My grief danced between deep echoing pain, the kind where it feels like you're suffocating and can't breathe and someone is clutching your heart.

Every night I still have horrible nightmares that would result in my screaming, waking Charlie up. It was the same thing every time. It would be me being alone in those woods. Red eyes just staring at me as I run. The only change is who attacks me at the end. Sometimes it was Edward, Carlisle, sometimes it was the Volturi, or what I thought they would look like. Sometimes it was someone I had never seen.

Once the pain went away it was just anger. In my head I would scream and yell out all my betrayal. I would have these mock arguments with myself about how I am the one who deserved better. I would scream at him for wasting my time and for stringing me along.

Sometimes it was at myself for letting it all happen.

Now, after all of that. I can't think of a damn thing to say. All I can do is look at the dimly lit room, decorated like the rest of the castle, in dark wood and velvet drapes and look in awe at the man before me. This man who I used to love. His appearance was what caught me the most. His usual put together appearance was altered by the crumpled look of his clothes, it was clear that they had not let him change out of the clothes he traveled in. His shirt was half untucked from the front of his pants, the entire ensemble was crumpled and wrinkled. His hair had obvious signs of stress pulling and running his fingers through it. What caught me the most though was his black eyes. There was not a sign that they ever were any other color.

"Bella, Gentlemen…" The disgust that drips from his tone glaring at the boys behind me. "Do you really need to think things like that? You southerners have no manners!" He glares at Peter. I will have to ask him about that later.

"Enough. I need to talk to you Edward, I think you owe me an explanation." I say, finally thinking clearly.

"I owe you one? You insulted me in front of the vampire kings, and left me for these two in front of everyone." He snaps.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I left YOU?! Are you mental? You were the one who left me in the woods Edward. Get over yourself." For a second the fucker actually looks guilty and like he feels bad.

"I didn't want to leave you Bella. I had to. He tried to drain you! You saw his face. Carlisle and Emmett had to hold him back!"

"Stop talking to me like I am an idiot. Don't spin this at him. I cut my finger. You tried to go at me. Jasper sensed it and tried to stop you. Then you lost control and shoved me into a table. I am not as naiive and stupid as you think."

"I wouldn't have had to if his little secret hadn't finally come out!" Edward yells back at me. Little secret? Jasper said himself he is really good at hiding his thoughts from Edward. The only way he could have heard anything is….. "You knew." I say

"Oh I knew. Not until then, no my dear Brother was good at hiding the tidbit that he was depraved AND delusional that you were his mate. But when he felt my bloodlust for your blood, his mind slipped."

"Depraved and Delusional? How dare you. You wouldn't know your mate if they slapped you across the face. Mates transcend your outdated ideals of love Pretty boy" Peter pipes in. "Don't you dare stand there and try and lessen what this is."

"You are all sick."

"Is that why you left Edward? You learned the truth and thought I was tainted?"

"No, I didn't know about those two being a thing until the day in the throne room. I left because you are mine Isabella. You are MINE. I left so that he would have to. I told Carlisle what I found out and he told me we had to leave. Then I would be able to come back and get you, to finally have you for myself." He says. "Then I found out you may have killed yourself and the wolves knew about you. Carlisle told me there was too much at stake and I needed to beg forgiveness from the Volturi. I never intended for them to actually kill me. The plan was for Aro to get me on the guard to 'heal my heart' we didn't realize there was a spy in our midst."

"You were going to come back and kill me?" I ask, the realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"Your blood is meant for me bella. The way you smell, the fact that you were in my life. That is what you were created for. I had to wait for you to be ready.

"You are pathetic Edward. I wish the guard had killed you." I stand, staying strong while in the room. The things I wanted to say to him he didn't deserve. I turn and walk away.

JPOV

The cocktail of emotions rolling off Bella were intense. Anguish, anger, pain, betrayal. The list could go on. I know her well enough to know to let her feel it out. Peter on the other hand. He needed me to calm him down in there or he would have snapped.

"Bella, do you want to talk about it?" Peter asks when we get outside the room.

"Can we just go back to the room. If I start talking here I might cry." She says. We nod and direct her to her chambers. The walk through the castle is long and quiet. Bella's emotions eventually go to nothing. Not just like calm but unreadable.

"Bella—" I start when we get to the door.

"Do you know where my phone ended up. My dad is probably freaking out, Jake too." Her voice has lost all inflection.

"I am not sure but do you want to use mine?" Peter asks, him not knowing Bella as well as I do, he doesn't notice not as much. He feels some concern, but not much. He hands her the phone and finds his way oy me.

"Im concerned" I say quietly. "Her emotions disappeared."

"He said some pretty fucked up things in there babe. Do you blame her? The man she loved just told her he was biding time to kill her and taste her blood again."

BPOV

"Hey Dad, sorry for not calling. I am in Texas, Edward was in an accident and he tried to kill himself. He would only calm down if he saw me."

"Bella, you scared the shit out of me! I am so glad you are okay. Thank you for the note. Is Edward okay?"

"Yes, but hopefully he isn't with me when I get back." I can hear his smile from this side of the phone.

"Are you okay?" I turn around and see Jasper and Peter holding each other and all I can think is how I want to be over there. Fighting my emotions by shutting them down and burying them deep, like I did before the Cullens came back.

"I will be. I love you dad, I will be home soon."

"Love you too Bells." I hang up the phone and take a pause before calling Jake. When I left he was not happy. We had grown close but not as close as he would have liked. He was ready to kiss me when Alice showed up. I still don't know if I would have let him, knowing what I do now I wouldn't have.

I dial the number and pray he answers.

"Hello?"

"Jake, it's Bella" I say cautiously.

"Bella! Jesus fucking Christ! Thank god you are okay."

"I am find Jake, I just wanted to call and let you know. The mission was a success."

"I still don't know why you left for that blood sucker!" He yells at me.

"Don't call them that."

"Whatever, when are you coming home?"

"I uhh… Im not sure yet. We still have a few things to figure out." I say.

"We?" He asks "You better not be back with that scum Isabella, I will kill him myself."

"Calm your ass down, I am not. But there has been a new development. Jasper and his mate Peter… are my mates."


End file.
